Surprisingly, they were also finding incense monster tracks. The surprising part wasn't because they were finding them, it was the size of them that surprised their group.
"I would think that these are a monster pack and not one monster. But the tracks are too close together.
They tell us that this is one large monster with a few hundred legs." Gil's conclusion of the small round footprints was easy to follow.
There were giant millipedes and even venomous centipedes in some of the forest territories that the forest elves lived in. They had seen similar tracks, well, similar because they were not this large but the same shapes.
The idea that there was a massive poisonous version of the venomous centipedes that they might need to fight did not put a single one of them at ease. However, it readied the question, was this jungle full of many larger monsters? Or was it just that they were happening upon the most evident tracks because they were larger and affected the environment more?
Watch your step, those are mushrooms.
Well, they look like they are mushrooms." One of the experienced elves stopped everyone from stepping on a brown looking ball of mushroom.They blended in with the roots on the ground and the mud. They were definitely not good to touch through.
Around them were little insect monsters. They had turned the same color brown as the mushroom balls leaving nothing but their shapes to differentiate what they were.
"The appraisal scroll said they are spore mine mushrooms.
They release spores when touched that will cause suffocation. They also will dye your skin the same color attempting to leave the spores attached to grow.
They need the nutrients from dead monsters to help enrich the soil around them."
"So they are always a pain wherever they go.
We can't even touch them." Gil was sure that some benefits could come from these mushrooms, but he didn't feel like experimenting.
He documented what they found and was sure it would be good information for the others. He just had to get the nagging feeling that there was more in the trees above them out of his head.
"Do not climb those trees." Gil stopped one of the demi-human archers from starting to climb the tree.
He had a monkey monster trait of some sort which made climbing easier for him. Yet, every other elf had avoided their natural habits of taking to the trees while scouting and keeping an eye on the ground from above.
The elves were natural archers by birth. They almost all had some sort of skill when it came to this.
But they were also born in different places, therefore, the forest elves in particular had incredible skill when it came to running through the trees and climbing them. They could even move in to some of the smallest branches to take a step that most people would have failed to take.
Right now, their instincts said that they should not hea in to the treetops at all. They had yet to say it out loud, but inside their minds, the very back of their minds, they felt it.
The whisper that the trees tops were not safe. That they would be at a disadvantage.
The other elves had picked up on this and acted accordingly.
"We already know that there are small bird monsters hiding up there.
And if these larger monsters are on the jungle floor, there are most likely things hunting them from the treetops. Or, they are climbing those trees since we can't find any evidence that they are somehow living in the mud or elsewhere on the ground.
"
Gil made it very clear that they would be facing many dangers if they were to move in to the treetops. However, he also wondered if they could even get up there.
The trees appeared to be a complicated maze of vines and branches. Much more complicated than the forest elves made their homes.
The poison jungle had no organization. It was nature growing wildly without any guidance.
It moved where it could. Sprouted where the sun fell.
And most of all, it did not stop growing no matter what.
"This place might be even more perfect for Alma than I thought before.
"
While Gil was thinking about this, Alma had already realized the amazing aspects of this place.
The poison jungle dungeon was ideal for her.
She specifically gathered and bred the poisonous plants she used to fight. She even carried their seeds everywhere so that she could let them absorb her mana.
That way they could grow rapidly without any hesitation when she needed them.
Some of the notable plants she had altered after they were discovered and brought to Genesis were even sought after by alchemists and healers.
The numbing thistle was a plant that would normally become a small flowery bush before becoming sharper after developing seeds. However, Alma had changed it slightly.
With the effort of multiple generations, Alma had made the numbing sap it had even stronger, she had also crossed it with a vine called a spring tailed vine known for the round shape that caused its seeds to be sprung forward to grow a distance away. The two had become a new plant she called the spring thorn.
This took the thistles that were tough and sharp as needles which delivered the numbing sap and gave it a method to propel itself. Causing the slightly longer ranged attack or a trap like attack which could be grown with just a few drops of seeds here and there.
Alma was just getting started though.
"Look at this vine, the appraisal scroll says it is called strangling vine since it can grow tightly around tree trunks over the years and strangle it to death to steal its nutrients.
But what if I took the reliance it has and mix it with something else?" She was already trying to improve the vines and whatever else she could find.
So many poisonous plants would be valuable for her experiments.
She would also be able to come to the alchemy guild to have them multiplied and tested. The herbalists and the alchemists might be able to help make unique antidotes of medicines with them.
Further enhancing the goals she had when cross breeding these plants together.
"Lady Alma, we have movement over behind the next large tree."
One of the elite elf archers had stopped and prepared an arrow. She was looking at a large mossy tree with many small bright green vines growing out of it.
Whatever the vines were, they were parasitic towards the large tree. Not that this was the issue here.
As they all watched, a large padded limb moved across the tree truck. It was somewhat similar to a frog, but on this body were the warts that a toad would have.
It also appeared to shift its body color with the moss and the brown of the bark on the tree. The very same way that a chameleon would.
"The appraisal scroll says that this is a devil toad. It hides using light mana to manipulate the color of its skin in the shadows of the jungle leaves.
But it also gathers the poisons of other plants within its mouth. Then secretes them as a potent venom processed within its body.
Every single limp is hiding a sharp hire that can pierce whatever touches it."
The devil toad froze as it eyes the group before slowly moving up the tree trunk.
Clearly it was not hunting them. It was also not afraid that it would be attacked since it had its own defense mechanisms.
"And what of the little green vines it was eating?"
"Those are not vines. They are called leaf leeches.
They are a monster that copies the color of young vines and leaves to blend in while sucking at the sap of a tree. When the temperature gets too hot they will drop down in to puddles of Mudd to hide.
When cool enough, they will harm the trees. That is why some trees have so many round holes."
The elite elf archers reporting this were also recording it for later.
Alma kept on like this, finding unique aspects and using appraisal scrolls at an astonishing speed.
She was glad to find so much, but she also realized that there were marks on some of the plants. They had been eaten here and there by monsters.
Meaning that many monsters used these plants as part of their poisons and food.
Her mind lingered a little on the others before she began gathering the seeds of a tree nearby.
They were bright red seeds which might have some interesting uses when she studied them.
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